The present invention relates in general to identification of physical characteristics of a human being or other animal. More particularly, the present invention relates to iris recognition.
Various technologies are used for uniquely identifying a person in accordance with an examination of particular attributes of either the person""s interior or exterior eye. One of these technologies involves the visual examination of the particular attributes of the exterior of the iris of at least one of the person""s eyes. The iris of the human eye has random patterns of striations, ciliary processes, crypts, rings, furrows and other features which had been shown capable of generating highly unique biometric templates for personal identification. In this regard, reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,349, xe2x80x9cIris Recognition Systemxe2x80x9d, issued to Flom et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,291,560, xe2x80x9cBiometric Personal Identification System Based on Iris Analysisxe2x80x9d, issued to Daugman. As made clear by these patents, the visible texture of a person""s iris can be used to distinguish one person from another with great accuracy. Thus, iris recognition can be used for such purposes as controlling access to a secure facility or a bank automatic teller machine, for example. An iris recognition system involves the use of an imager to video image the iris of each person attempting access, and image processing means for comparing this iris video image with a reference iris image on file in a database.
Iris identification systems have been developed that are capable of collecting images of the iris and processing them to produce biometric templates. These templates may be used to identify individual irises with extremely low error rates, on the order of 1 in 1078. The systems capture the iris images using stationary optical platforms that are often large, complex, and expensive. The systems are difficult to use with minimal cooperation of the subject being identified. As a result their usefulness in many applications is limited.
The cellular telephone industry each year loses an estimated $650 million to cellular fraud, principally due to cloning of cellular telephones. Cloning involves re-programming a phone""s electronic serial number and telephone number to those stolen from a legitimate subscriber. To counteract cloning, some service providers have utilized personal authentication techniques such as personal identification numbers (PIN) or voice verification to verify that the authorized subscriber is using the phone. This is unreliable because PIN number can be stolen or forgotten, and voice verification messages may be recorded.
Although the art of human recognition systems is well developed, there remain some problems inherent in this technology, particularly the lack of an iris imager and security module suitable for integration into a cellular telephone, and the lack of a method for using biometric information for enabling access to the cellular network. Therefore, a need exists for a recognition system that overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art.
The present invention is directed to a telecommunications device comprising a telephone security module comprising: iris acquisition means having a front surface for obtaining an image of an iris of an eye; a lens having a image plane disposed in front of the front surface of the iris acquisition means; a mirror disposed on a side of the lens opposite the iris acquisition means; an illuminator disposed along a side of the mirror; a memory for storing an iris image obtained by the iris acquisition means; a processor for extracting a template from the stored iris image; and a communications interface for transmitting the template to a central station.
According to one aspect of the invention, the iris acquisition means comprises a camera, and the mirror is a cold mirror. The camera is sensitive to light having a wavelength in a range between about 400 nm and about 1100 nm. The mirror reflects light having a wavelength in a range between about 400 nm and about 700 nm and passes light having a wavelength greater than about 700 nm.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the illuminator emits light having a wavelength in a range between about 680 nm and about 900 nm towards the iris of the eye being imaged, and the eye is out of contact with the iris imaging apparatus.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the module further comprises at least a visible indicator or an audible indicator to indicate when the image of the iris has been obtained. According to another aspect of the present invention, the module further comprises a focus assessment processor coupled to the visible indicator and/or the audible indicator.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the processor unlocks a telecommunications device responsive to a signal received from the central station.
In a further embodiment within the scope of the present invention, a method of unlocking a telecommunications device responsive to the identification of a person comprises the steps of: (a) storing image information of the iris of at least one person""s eye; (b) illuminating an eye of an unidentified person having an iris; (c) obtaining an image of the iris of the unidentified person; (d) determining if the image is an image of sufficient quality for a step (f) of extracting; (e) repeating steps (b) through (d) until the image of sufficient quality is obtained; (f) extracting an iris template if the image is of sufficient quality; (g) comparing the template of the obtained image with the stored image information to identify the unidentified person; and (h) unlocking the telecommunications device responsive to a result of the step of comparing. The stored image information used for identification can be a code or template extracted from the image, and the comparison can be performed at a central database maintained by a telephone service provider.
According to one aspect of the present invention, the method further comprises the step of activating an indicator if the image is of insufficient quality. The indicator is an audible indicator.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the method further comprises the step of activating an indicator if the image is of sufficient quality. The indicator is a visible indicator.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the method further comprises the step of activating an indicator responsive to the step of comparing. The indicator is a visible indicator.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, the step of determining if the image is an image of sufficient quality comprises the step of focus assessment processing the image.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the telecommunications device is unlocked if the step of comparing identifies the person.
In a further embodiment within the scope of the present invention, a telecommunications device comprises a telephone security module comprises: iris acquisition means having a front surface for obtaining an image of an iris of an eye; a lens having a image plane disposed in front of the front surface of the iris acquisition means; a mirror disposed on a side of the lens opposite the iris acquisition means; an illuminator disposed along a side of the mirror; a first memory for storing at least one template of at least one image of an iris of at least one person""s eye; a second memory for storing an iris image obtained by the iris acquisition means; a processor for extracting a template from the stored iris image; and a comparator for comparing the template from stored iris image with the at least one template to identify the person.
In another embodiment within the scope of the present invention, a telecommunications device having telephone electronics comprises a telephone security module. The telecommunications device is unlocked if an iris template of an iris image identifies the person having the iris.